Improvement in car-trucks for street-railways



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Patented'lan. 7,1879.

D. K'. GARTTER.

Gar-Truck for Street-Railway. No. 211,220.

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N4 PETERS. FKOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. 0.6.

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, D. K. OARTTER. I Gar-Truck for Street-Railway.

o. 211,220. Patented Jan. 7, 1879.

511% i J K Z 522 gab ed Even/Z 1 FHOTO-LITMOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. D. C.

DAVID K. GARTTER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

UNITED STATES PATENT Orrion IMPROVEMENT lN CAR-TRUCKS FORSTREET-RAILWAYS.

Specification forming partof Letters Patent No, 211,220, dated January7, 1879; application filed November 18, 1878. a

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID K. OAR'lTER, of Washington, in the county ofWashington and District of Columbia, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Gar-Trucks for Street-Railways, of which thefollowing is a specification:

My invention relates to that class of cartrucks especially adapted foruse on street-railways, and wherein the wheels are secured toindependent axles, arranged to turn and permit the wheels to followcurves of the track.

The object of my invention is to facilitate the turning ofstreet-railway cars in followin g curves of the track, to prevent wearof the rails on curves, to reduce the strain on the superstructure ofrailway-cars, and to relieve the horses from the necessity of extraeflort in pulling cars around curves.

To this end it consists, first, in providing each wheel of a railway-carwith an independent axle having its outer end journaled in a swivelingbox and its inner end journaled in a box mounted in curved guides, andmovable therein in an arc of a circle, of which the axle is a radius,said inner box being provided with and operated by an arm extendinginward, and distinct from the axle, whereby an even movement is securedfor the axle in adjustment; second, in the combination, inastrectrailway car, of wheels provided with inde- V pendent axles havingtheir outer ends mounted in swiveling bearings under opposite sides ofthe same end of the car, an gularly-adjnstable bearings, supporting theinnen ends of said axles, arms secured to and projecting inwardly fromsaid angularly-adjustable bearings, links connected to the inner ends ofsaid arms, and with a common operating device, adapted for operationfrom the carplatform, whereby the position of the wheels is placeddirectly under control of the driver, and a leverage is afforded, whichrenders their adjustment rapid and easy, third, in the combination ofthe adjustable axles of a railway-car, a hollow shaft mounted insuitable hearings on the framework of the car, and connected with saidaxles by intermediate devices, and a shaft mounted within said hollowshaft and projecting beyond the ends thereof, and connected byintermediate devices with the brakes of the car.

Both the hollow shaft and the inner brakeshaft are provided withsuitable hand wheels or levers, whereby they may be rotatedindependently of each other, as necessity re quires, all as hereinaftermore particularly de scribed.

There have been various inventions madefor the purpose of obviating thewellknown difficulties attendant upon turning curves with cars onstreet-railways. For instance, the axles have been divided, in orderthat the wheels upon the outer curved rails may be permitted to rotatefaster than those upon the inner curves, and thus prevent the sliding ofthe wheels that occurs when continuous axles are used. This, however,does not diminish the wear of the inner edges of the rails and thewheel-flanges.

Continuous axles have been arranged to swivel at their centers, andprovided with sliding boxes, the front and rear axles being connected bydiagonal links, and the front axle being so connected with the pole ortongue that as soon as the horses begin to turn a curve both axles areturned obliquely with respect to the car-frame. This arrangement isobjectionable, because the rear wheels are often caused to assume anoblique position on straight track, and when. the front wheels only areon a curve. Cars have also been mounted on swiveling truck-frames thewheels of which have had continuous axles; but this, as will be readilyunderstood, could not prevent the grinding of the rails, as in all caseswhere continuous axles are used the impossibility of the outer wheelstraversing by revolution the greater are formed by the outer rails inthe same time in which the other wheels traverse the less are of theinner rails causes the wheels to assume oblique positions, the reverseof what they should, and thus the flanges are brought against the inneredges of the rails, and both rails and flanges worn away. In none of thetrucks having continuous axles, or even divided axles, the axes of whichalways coincide, do the wheels, in turning curves, so conform to thenecessary direction of the pull of the horses as to prevent grinding,sliding of the wheels, and overexertion 011 the part of the horses, thelashing of which to urge them forward at such times is a common sight onstreet-railways.

There have, however, been oar-trucks constructed in which the axle ofeach wheel has been adjustable obliquely independently of that of theopposite wheel, so that two opposite wheels would at the same timeconform to the direction of the draft. In one such truck the axle ofeach fore wheel is connected by a link with the diagonally-opposite hindwheel, and the hind-wheel axles by other links connected with a forwardequal-armed lever pivoted to the truck-frame, and this equal-armed leveris provided'with a rigid forward-projecting arm, rigidly secured to theaxle of a pair of guide-wheels, which travel in front of the truck. Thiscontrivance necessitates an extra pair of wheels, which have acontinuous axle, and are themselves objectionable, on account ofgrinding the rails, and they,besides, communicate oblique movement toall the truck-wheels at once, while it is desirable the fore wheelsshould begin to turn first, and often while the hind wheels are onstraight track;

In another truck the independent axle of each wheel is provided at eachend with an angularly-sliding bearing, and the fore and hind wheels areso connected as to be adjusted simultaneously through connection withthe draw-bar or tongue of the car.

A truck has also been invented in which such wheel has an independentaxle mounted in a swiveling bearing at its outer end and a slidinghearing at its inner end, the sliding bearing being connected by a linkor rod directly with an operating device in front; but in thisarrangement the driver has no leverage to facilitate the adjustment ofthe axles.

I will 110W proceed to describe my invention and point'out itsdistinguishing features with respect to the state of the art, ashereinbefore set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of the bottom of adouble-end car provided with trucks according to my invention. Fig. 2 isa section of the car immediately behind the dash-board, the wheels andarms being in full lines. Fi 3 illustrates modifications of the devicesfor adjusting the wheels. Fig. 4: is a section similar to Fig. 2. Fig.4* is a sectional view, in detail, of the wheel-adj ustin g andbrake-operating shafts. Fig. 5 is a detail top view, showing a singlewheel and axle and the bearings. Fig. 6 is an inner-side view of thesame. Fig. 7 shows a platform-car just entering a curve of the track.Fig. 8 is a bottom view of a car which travels with the same end alwaysfront.

The letterA indicates the bottom of the car. B is the outer lowerframe-beam, and 0 an inner beam. D indicates what I are commonly knownas Dotterer boxes, located under and secured to the outer frame, B, asthe bearinghoxes of the outer ends of theindependent axles E of thewheels. Under the inner beams, O, are secured pendent frames F, eachhaving a top and a bottom plate, G G, in which are formed coincidentcurved slots g g. The upper plate, G, of each of these frames is boltedsnugly to the under side of one of the inner beams, O.

H indicates bearing-box frames, which support the bearings h h, arrangedto move vertically therein. The lower bearings, 7b, are each providedwith journals 71, upon which are mounted friction-rollers I, whichfitand travel in the lower curved slots, 9.

The upward projections, h which are cast upon the top bearings, M, areeach provided with upward-extending arms l, terminating in journals,upon which are friction-rollers 1, Fig. 6, which fit and travel in theupper curved slots, g. The intermediate portions of the arms I aresquared to fit into sockets m m the ends of 'arms M, which extend towardthe longitudinal center line of the bottom of the car.

Now, it will be seen that when the inner ends of the arms M are movedeither way toward the ends of the car, the Dotterer boxes act asfulcrum-pivots, and the axles E are moved to positions oblique withrespect to the car-frame, and the wheels may be thus set to correspondwith the curves of the railwaytrack, the arms of opposite wheels beingmoved in opposite directions of course. In effecting this movement ofthe arms I use the following-described devices: N indicates sheavesprocket-pulleys mounted on suitable journals under cross-beams near themiddle of the car, between the pairs of wheels, and N designates pulleyssecured to the lower ends of hollow shafts S, which surround thebrakeshafts Q and project below the car-platforms. O is an endlesschain, passing around and having its links fitting over the teeth of thesprocket-pulleys N N. The inner ends of arms M of two opposite axles aresecured, respectively, to the opposite strands of this chain, so thatwhen the hollow shaft S and pulley N are turned one strand of the chainwill move toward the middle and theother to ward the front of the car,as indicated by the arrows, Fig. 1, thus pulling the ends of the twoattached arms M in opposite directions, and throwing the wheels W intooblique positions with respect to the car-frame, but preserving parallelplanes with respect to each other.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 the ends of curved arms It are shownsecured to opposite sides of the Dotterer box, and their opposite endsto the inner angularly-adjustable bearpulley and chain, equalarm edlevers N 2 N 3 are used, and their opposite ends are respectivelyconnected with the ends of the levers M by iron rods r. On the other endof the car sprocket-pulleys are used, both at the end and in the middleof the car, and the rods 4' terminate in chains which pass around saidpulleys.

The end pulleys and levers may, however, both be dispensed with,'and thechains at- .tached to rods or leading direct from the arms of the axlesmay be secured directly to the hollow shaft and operated by. being woundthereon, as is the ordinary brake-chain.

Fig. 4 illustrates an arrangement similar to Fig. 1, except that thearms M are prolonged and lap each other to afford more leverage.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the levers M are secured to the an gularly-adjustablebearings in the same manner as shown in Fig. 1.

In some cases it may be desirable to brace the supports of the bearingsagainst endwise These braces are provided at their middles with eyes,which embrace the axles on the outer side of the wheel and the end ofthe hub or collar thereof, but Without touching, ordinarily, either theaxle or hub. If, however, from lurchin g of the car, the axles shouldhave an undue outward endwise thrust, its movement will be opposed bythe braces o, and the bearing-support thus relieved of over-strain in alateral direction outward.

In Fig. 8, braces z are bolted to and extend from the opposite ends ofthe lower curved plates, G, upward and inward to crossbeams of thecar-frame, and are bolted to said beams. These braces support thependent frames F against inward thrust of the axles.

In Fig. 7 is shown a top view of a platformcar entering a curve, theflooring of the platform being broken away in order to show the positionof the forward wheels, which are on the curve, and the rear wheelsbeingon straight track. 7

The car shown in Fig. 8 is one which has but one platform, and alwaystravels with the same endforemost. In such a car there is no necessityfor devices for turning the rear wheels; but they are mounted in allrespects similarly to the front wheels, omitting the inward-extendinglevers and adjusting devices.

When what is known as the double-end car (shown in Fig. 1) is used, therear wheels for the time being are left free-that is, the hollow shaftwhich operates these wheels is allowed to turn as it will as the rearwheels conform themselves to the curves upon which they are drawn.

Referring to Fig. 4, which represents a detail, partly in section, ofthe shafts for operating the wheels and brakes, S indicates the bearing,it, below that of the hollow shaft,

but needs no upper bearing other than the hollow shaft, within which itis arranged. The hollow shaft is here shown as having the axle-operatingchains attached directly thereto without the intervention of a pulley.

To a cross-beam, T, under the floor of the car, as shown in Fig. 7, ispivoted a lever, T arranged to oscillate vertically. Therearwardly-extending arm of this terminates immediately over the pulleyN, and is provided with a downwardly-projecting pin, which takes into ahole in the flat upper face of the pul ley, and prevents it from turningwhen the wheels are set straight. The forwardlyprd jecting arm Tterminates under the front part of the car-platform, and has pivoted toit one end of a rod, t which extends upward through a hole in theplatform, as shown in Fig. 2, and is provided'with a transversefoot-piece, it at its top. Between this front piece and the platform isa spiral spring, t, having one end against the platform and the otheragainst the lower surface of the foot-piece, keeping said foot-piece andthe forward end of the lever T elevated and the rear end thereofdepressed, so that the pin on said rear end will take into the hole inthe pulley; or a spring of any suitable kind for performing the samefunction may be arranged at any convenient point.

WVhen the car is about to enter a curve of the track the driver placeshis foot upon the foot-piece t depresses it, and so releases pulley N.He may then turn the hollow shaft to adjust the wheels, as desired, andwhen the car passes the curve and comes again upon straight track hereleases the foot-piece, the spring elevates it, forcing down the rearend of the lever, the pin of which enters the hole in pulley N, securingthe wheels in proper p0 sition to travel on straight track.

It is obvious that the retaining device above described maybe applied tothe equal-armed lever as well as the pulley.

By my above-described invention it will be seen that the forward wheelsof a car may be easily adapted to follow smoothly and without grindingof rails any curve which the track may make, as the degree of obliquityin the adjustment of the wheels is always under the control of thedriver, who may turn the adjusting-shaft more or less, as occasion requires. The adjustment of the wheels is easily effected, as there is nosliding friction, the fric tion-rollers I I of the an gularlyadjustablebearings giving said bearings a smooth rolling friction, which preventswear of the curved guides.

By the arrangement of the brake and wheel operating shafts I economizespace on the platform, and bring both the said devices into positionsconvenient to the driver.

In addition to the other advantages of my improvement it will be seenthat in case of jumping from the track a car may be so guided as toeffect its ready replacement, the driver adjusting the forward wheels soas to cause them to mount the rails and assume a proper positionthereon. With the old truck, when a car gets off the track a longdistance is frequently traveled, the passengers subjected to greatdiscomfort from jolting, and the car-frame greatly strained before itcan be hauled upon the rails again, and, indeed, it often happens thatthe replacement of the car must be effected by lifting it bodily, or bythe 2. In a street-railway car, the combination of wheels provided withindependent axles having theirouter ends mounted in swiveling bearingsunder opposite sides of the same end of the car, angularly-adjustablebearings supporting the inner ends of said axles, arms secured to andprojecting inwardly from said an gularly-adj ustable bearin gs, linksconnected to the inner ends of said arms, and with a common operatingdevice adapted for opera-- tion from the car-platform, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination of the wheels and axles, the swiveling outerbearings, the inner bearings having the upper and lower journals,i i,and friction rollers thereon, the pendent frames F, having the upper andlower plates with curved slots therein, the arms projecting inwardlyfrom said inner bearings, and suitable devices for operating said arms,substantially as described.

4. The combination of the adjustable axles of a railway-car, a hollowshaft mounted in suitable bearings on the frame-work of said car andconnected with the axles by intermediate devices, and a shaft mountedwithin said hollow shaft and projecting beyond the ends thereof, andconnected by intermediate devices with the brakes of the car,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand inthe presence of the subscribing witnesses.

D. K. GARTTER.

\Vituesses:

JAMES L. N onRIs, ALBERT H. NORRIS.

